Rondo accuses Wade of being 'dirty'

This Heat-Celtics rivalry is going to be crazy all season. Check out what Rajon Rondo said about his flagrant-1 on Dwyane Wade.

“I mean, I don’t think it was a hard foul,” Rondo told ESPNBoston.com. “[Wade] sold it a little bit, and that’s basketball. They were up, he drove to the hole, I didn’t want to give up a layup. Simple as that. I didn’t yank him down, or, dirty plays that you’ve seen him play in the past. So that’s what it is.”

So, in other words, Rondo is calling Wade a dirty player.

On Tuesday night, Wade basically called Rondo a punk after Rondo's hard foul on Wade with 16 seconds left in the game. Wade called the foul a "punk play" and described the foul as a two-handed clothesline.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers went on the radio in Boston on Thursday to defend Rondo. Rivers said Wade has doled out his fair share of hard fouls through the years. He then pointed out Wade's role in Rondo's elbow injury in the 2011 playoffs. Rondo and Wade got tangled up and Rondo badly dislocated his elbow trying to brace his fall.

"Rondo pulled me and I pulled him and we both fell. That's how I was falling because Rondo pulled me on that play. I apologized to Rondo for that because I don't ever want to see anyone get injured. Just like I didn't mean to injure Kobe in the All-Star Game but things happen. But it wasn't 18 seconds left where the game was decided. That's what I was talking about when I called it a punk play. There's 18 seconds left, why are you going for my neck? You can do that early in the game, in competition, let's go."